Monday, November 29, 2010

Persistent.

Persistent is a word we should all be very familiar with.Persistence in Excellence is always a good thing, even though it is not a low hanging fruit easily grabbed...:::cough:::Oakland-Raiders:::cough:::

Persistent is something a college student should be familiar with because it is the primary factor that keeps them going back to lecture hall to study a subject that is more for a wage than their primary passion...:::cough:::myself:::cough:::

Persistent is something to be admired when a runner finishes a marathon even though their body is screaming at them, "What the hell are we doing?!?"...:::cough:::my-wife:::cough:::

And there is the kind of persistence we can all do with out...say, a cough, a runny nose, or more seriously, A FREAKING OBVIOUS INSURRECTION THAT ISN'T LETTING UP NO MATTER HOW MUCH THE MILITARY AND THE GOVERMENT CLICK THEIR HEALS TOGETHER AND WISH UPON THE NORTH STAR!!!

"The incident is the latest in a series of killings of NATO troops by Afghan security forces and demonstrates the risks involved in the intense effort to recruit and field tens of thousands of new Afghan soldiers and police officers. U.S. and Afghan officials have regularly said they do not believe insurgent infiltration is widespread in the Afghan security forces, but these killings have persisted."

Really?We recruit, and for some unknown reason that no one can fathom why, Afghani police officers are routinely opening up on American Soldiers for...oh don't why...let's explore..."WOW, did you see that Sarge, Omar just greased six of our guys...what do you make of that?" "Well Private, I'm not sure, perhaps it is one of those intangible things that is above our pay-grade. Lets continue to be run of the mill drones, and I'm sure the Officers and the gov's will get to it after they're done humping the oil can."

WTF?!?Persisted means persistence, means continuing at a steady pace regardless of outcome...holy shit, how can we be so freaking stupid????How I ask?HOW?When it is a one time thing, and it never happens again, yes, we can call that a rare event hardly worht noting, but when it becomes a routine event...it's time not to say, "do not believe insurgent infiltration is widespread in the Afghan security forces" because you look stupid next to the facts contradicting you.The US Military better start saying, "look, we have a problem here, and that problem is that the Afghan police force has been penetrated by hostiles." Progress begins with honestly looking at the situation, and calling a spade a spade. The Afghan national police have been penetrated and many of it's officers turned, or were plants to begin with. But saying it's not widespread when the facts scream "LIAR!"...thats a big neon sign saying, "We're hiding the truth of how utterly fucked up it is here."

“The Great Game” was a term used for the strategic rivalry and conflict between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia. The classic Great Game period is generally regarded as running approximately from the Russo-Persian Treaty of 1813 to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. Following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 a second less intensive phase followed. The Term “The Great Game” was introduced into mainstream consciousness by British novelist Rudyard Kipling in his novel ‘Kim’ (1901).

From a review:

http://tinyurl.com/2cv4qhn

This is a sequence of 16 plays, some of them short monologues or duologues plus passages of verbatim material that trace the history of conflict in Afghanistan from the days of the 'Great Game', the rivalry between the British and Russian Empires for supremacy in Central Asia, right up to the present moment. Hugely acclaimed when first produced last year, this revival replaces one play with a new one, has updated verbatim material to ensure its topicality and some new cast members. I cannot comment on what difference the changes make for I was not lucky enough to see last year's production but I can unequivocally agree that this is an important and rewarding theatrical experience...Part 1: Invasions and IndependenceThe sequence opens with Siba Shakib's Monologue in which Mohammed Mashal (Vincent Ebrahim) is painting a mural in Herat in 1996, the year the Taliban took Kabul. The picture presents iconic images of Afghan history and culture, most recognisably the Bamiyan Buddha statue that was destroyed by the Taliban, and forms the background to the play until we reach the autumn of 2001. What happens to the painting is all part of the drama.

To this mural Pamela Howard's pared-down design adds furniture, significant costume, James Farncombe's atmospheric lighting and, at one point, a fall of snow on a Rolls Royce bonnet until in an effect prepared for us by the Taliban the World Trade Centre' twin towers are destroyed before us and are followed down by rows of white-flowered opium poppies.

Armies have marched into Afghanistan since the days of Alexander the Great. Genghis Khan swept in with conquering hordes and Tamberlaine, Moghul emperor Babur, made it his summer capital and was buried in his garden there, but the Tricycle begins its history with the British. In 1839 a British army marched from India to effect a 'regime change' to secure their influence. They ousted the current ruler and installed their own puppet, or so they thought, but it all went wrong. Stephen Jeffrey's Bugles at the Gates of Jalalabad presents us with four buglers sounding the retreat in the forlorn hope of there being any survivors from the British retreat from Kabul - of 16,000 only one reached Jalalabad.

I remember seeing "Hair" the movie and also the theatrical version too. One scene has always stood out for me, where armed GIs storm out onto the stage, then fall as VC appear behind them to cut them down, then the VC fall as GIs storm the stage to cut them down, and repeat.

I reserve my ranting sputtering rage for the useless moe-rons currently posing as an opposition party and the ball- and spine-less do-nothings who currently run the government.

I happened to catch the strangest thing last night. "Virginia City" was on TCM, Errol Flynn and Randolph Scott.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033226/

Flynn and Scott were shooting at Humphrey Bogart's company of mounted bad guys, and Scott asks Flynn "Where did you learn to shoot like that ( tracking speeding horsemen with his pistol and shooting them dead as they rushed by )?

There was a lot of this in Vietnam. And, for the same reasons—political imperatives, senior military officers unwilling to report the truth, etc.— nobody ever went after it seriously. In Vietnam, it might not manifest itself in Marvin all of a sudden lighting up a bunch of GIs, but rather in an operation where, inexplicably, Charlie shows up.

Part of the fun of fighting with allies, especially when you haven't taken much time to learn the language(s). You don't ordinarily find this with Euros. Even if you don't speak French, you can usually rely on the French guy next to you. That's in combat of course. He might be a spy, but he ain't going to be spying for weird religious dudes.

What's really neat about these kinds of wars is that they turn our entire government apparatus into a ship of fools and knaves, where the prime directive is lying to the American people. Potential good news is that one more of these heartbreakingly bogus wars might actually result in the now overdue second revolution. Bad news is that the American people may have finally thrown in the towel.

You read stuff like this and you understand why certain people retreat to the wildnerness. Look for more in the years ahead.

I'm happy that my oath is to the Constitution rather than any politician. At the rate we're going, it'll be non-binding before long.